Casing construction for vacuum cleaners and the like



Aug. 14, 1962 w. N. KEMNITZ CASING CONSTRUCTION FOR VACUUM CLEANERS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 14, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 L fi A M, Z! 44 i Q 42 66 4; T f (:q' cs /Z O /2 214 HA; A t: z: arngg 1962 I w. N. KEMNITZ 3,048,961

CASING CONSTRUCTION FOR VACUUM CLEANERS AND THE LIKE Filed Oct. 14, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 [)7 van 5 02". Warren A/Kemn/z,

1962 w. N. KEMNITZ 3,048,961

CASING CONSTRUCTION FOR VACUUM CLEANERS AND THE LIKE Filed 001.. 14, 1958 3 SheetsSheet 3 [)7 vent or: Warren /1 Kemm 262,

M /7/s Azftorngg Patented Aug. 14+, 1962 3,648,961 CASING CONSTRUCTION FtJR VACUUM CLEANERS AND THE HKE Warren N. Kemnitz, Willonghby, Ohio, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 14, 1958, Ser. No. 767,202 1 Claim. (Cl. 55-471) My invention relates generally to vacuum cleaners, and particularly to the casing construction thereof. My invention is well suited for incorporation in domestic vacuum cleaners of the so-called canister type, that is, vertical, tank type vacuum cleaners, and therefore, for the sake of simplicity and clarity in disclosure, it will be described as being incorporated in such a vacuum cleaner.

The domestic vacuum cleaner industry is extremely competitive and constantly strives to provide operational features that enhance the utility of the basic vacuum cleaner and which are attractive to the average housewife. Along with this desire there exists, due to the competitive nature of the industry, the concomitant objective of selling vacuum cleaners a a minimum price. Therefore, the vacuum cleaner art is constantly attempting to achieve the somewhat inconsistent objectives of providing attractive operational features and the reducing cost of manufacture.

A large element of the cost of manufacture of a vacuum cleaner flows from the necessity of providing a casing that is air tight when fully assembled, and which supports the necessary electrical components, such as an electrical switch and an electrical power cord, in its walls.

It is a principal object of the invention to provide a low cost, elfective, vacuum cleaner casing construction which is air tight when completed, and yet which lends itself to mass production techniques of fabrication and assembly.

The principal object of the invention is achieved in one form by providing a vacuum cleaner casing construction that comprises a plurality of stamped or drawn metal parts, each of which has a cooperating, outwardly extending, circular flange formed thereon, one of which flanges is rolled over the other flanges to thereby secure all the parts together in an air tight manner.

The above and other objects and further details which I believe to be novel and my invention will be clear from the following description and claim taken with the accompanying drawings in which is illustrated one embodiment of my invention and where-in:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view, with portions broken away and shown in section for the sake of clarity, of a vacuum cleaner that incorporates my invention;

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof, with portions broken away and shown in section for the sake of clarity;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional View taken substantially on line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on line 4-4 of FIG. 2 on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of one of the parts of the casing construction; and

FIG. 6 is an exploded view of the casing construction,

By reference to the drawings, principally to FIG. 1, it will be observed that the vacuum cleaner generally comprises a main body 10, which is formed by an improved casing construction which incorporates the instant invention and a lid assembly. The body 10 internally houses vacuum cleaner elements and is supported on a floor surface by a plurality of casters 12. The casing construction generally comprises a somewhat cylindrical, upper casing section 14 and a generally cup-shaped, base casing section 16. The upper casing section 14 supports above it a lid assembly 18 that includes a lid 20 and an and air inlet and carrying handle sub-assembly 22. The subassembly 22 may be rotatably mounted on the lid in a known fashion to achieve swiveling action for the air inlet, which may have a vacuum cleaner hose attached to it. The base casing section 116 includes a centrally dished bottom wall 24 having a peripheral portion 26 in which there is formed an air outlet 28 that is adapted to receive a detachably mounted air diffuser and blower plug 30. The particular structure which provides for the selective use of the vacuum cleaner either in its normal manner for cleaning with diffused air exhaust or as a blower shall not be described in detail in this application, for it forms no part of the instant invention, and is disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 767,200 (now abandoned), entitled Air Discharging and Blowing System for Vacuum Cleaners and the Like, filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the assignee of the instant application.

Internally of the vacuum cleaner body It there is formed an air filtering chamber 32 and an air discharge chamber 34. These chambers are formed by a disk-like air battle and motor mounting wall 35 and the remainder of the casing construction and the lid assembly. Wall 36 is generally frusto-conical in configuration, and has an opening 45 formed centrally therein that is adapted to receive a motor and fan unit 42. The motor and fan unit 42 may be of known design, but it includes a peripheral mounting flange 44 that is adapted to be received in a grooved, annular motor mounting cushion 46 which in turn is supported in a seat 48 that is formed centrally in the air bafiie and motor mounting wall 36 around the opening 40.

Above the air baffle and motor mounting wall 36 in the air filtering chamber 32 there is disposed a permanent air filter 50 which may be in the form of a fabric bag having an annular mounting ring 52 that is uniquely configured in cross-section secured at its open end and which functions both as a mounting means for the permanent air filter and as a seal for the connection between the upper open end of the upper casing section 14 and the lid 20. The details of construction of the mounting ring 52 will not be disclosed herein, for it forms a part of an invention that is disclosed and claimed in my co-pending application Serial No. 767,201 (now abandoned), entitled Combination Filter Mounting and Seal for Vacuum Cleaners and the Like, filed concurrently herewith and assigned to the assignee of the instant application. For the purpose of understanding the instant invention, it is solely necessary to understand that air filtering means is mounted in the .air filtering chamber 32. In the illustrated vacuum cleaner, the air filtering means comprises the aforementioned permanent air filter 5t and it may also comprise a disposable air filter 54, if desired, in the form of a bag made of appropriate air filtering material, such as filter paper. The manner in which the air filtering means is mounted in the filtering chamber 32 may be seen in FIG. 1, and it will there be observed that central portions of the air filters may rest on the inverted cup-shaped motor guard 56, and peripheral portions of the air filters may rest on the downwardly tapered support ring 58 which is juxtaposed to the air battle and motor mounting wall 36. Access to the interior of the air filtering chamber 32, principally for the purpose of allowing the inserting and removing of air filters, may be had by removing the lid assembly 13, as by utilizing the clamps 60 in a known manner.

It will be understood that the motor and fan unit 42 may be of any known type, and that it preferably is an electric motor that includes a conventional electrical power cord 62, that extends through the vacuum cleaner body and is attached to a conventional source of elecaosasei trical energy in a known manner, and a motor control, in the form of a manually operated switch 64 for selectively energizing the motor and fan unit in a known manner and which is accessible from the exterior of the vacuum cleaner body. The motor and fan unit is disposed in the vacuum cleaner body so as to function to induce a flow of air, as can be seen by the schematic arrows in FIG. 1, into the air inlet through the air filtering chamber 32, up under the motor guard 56, into the motor and fan unit 42, downwardly through said unit and out of the units discharge slots 66, into the air discharge chamber 34, and out the air outlet 28.

In View of the foregoing, it is believed that the overall construction and operation of the vacuum cleaner will be understood. The present invention is concerned with providing a casing construction which will be air tight and which will properly support the necessary vacuum cleaning elements, including the requisite electrical components, and yet which is designed in such a manner that it may be manufactured most economically. In this connection, it will be helpful to distinguish between the main body 10 and the casing construction which forms the subject of the present invention. The casing construction is intended to include the portions of the main body it) other than the lid assembly 18. It will be observed from the drawings, and particularly from FIG. 6, which is an exploded view of the improved casing construction showing the parts thereof prior to being assembled that the casing construction generally comprises three parts:

the previously mentioned, upper casing section 14, air

baffle and motor mounting wall 36, and base casing section 16.

The upper casing section 114 is generally cylindrical, but slightly tapered upward and inwardly, and terminates at its upper end in an inwardly extending, rolled edge 68, which as can be seen in FIG. 1, is adapted to support a portion of the mounting ring 52 of the permanent air filter 50. The lower end of the upper casing section 14 has a downwardly and radially outwardly extending portion 70 formed thereon which is downwardly bent at 71 and then formed into radially outwardly extending, flat, annular, mounting flange 72, which at its peniphery terminates in a depending skirt 74.

The air baffle and motor mounting wall 36 comprises a generally frusto-conical wall having an apertured central portion deformed so as to form the previously mentioned opening 49 and seat 48, and a peripheral portion deformed so as to form a radially, outwardly extending, flat, annular, mounting flange 76. The connecting portion 73 between the seat 43' and the mounting flange 76 is tapered, with the exception of one circumferential portion 80 which is deformed so as to form a socket-like recess 80.

The base casing section 16 includes a cylindrical wall portion 82, the upper end of which has a radially, outwardly extending, flat annular, mounting flange 84 formed thereon, and the lower end of which is formed into the referred-to bottom wall 24.

In order to assemble the parts, the casing sections and the air baffle and motor mounting wall are juxtaposed into substantially assembled position with their flanges cooperating as illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein it will be observed that the upper surface of the mounting flange 76 of the air baflie and motor mounting wall 36 contacts the lower surface of the mounting flange 72 of the upper casing section 14, and the upper surface of the mounting flange 84 of the bottom casing section 16 contacts the lower surface of the mounting flange 76. Prior to final assembly, the flanges 76 and 84- are disposed within the skirt 74 (see dotted line representation of skirt 74 in FIG. 4). In order to effect final assembly, the skirt 74 is rolled over the mounting flanges 76 and 84 into its solid line position in FIG. 4 (also its solid line position in FIGS. 1 and 3). It will, therefore, be seen that the three main parts of the casing construction are assembled in air tight condition by one operation; namely, that of rolling a skirt on one of the parts over the mounting flanges on the other parts. After this operation is completed, a resilient bumper 86 may be mounted on the rolled over portions of the casing construction parts.

It will be observed, particularly in FIGS. 2 and 3, that When the casing construction is fully assembled, the recess of the air baflie and motor mounting wall 36 has a wall portion 88 having a pair of openings Ml and 92 that extends generally vertically and lies closely adjacent to the cylindrical wall 8-2 of the base casing section 16, which also has a pair of openings 94- and 96, aligned respectively with the openings and )2. As can best be seen in FIG. 2, the aligned openings 90 and 94 allow the electrical power cord 62 to pass through the cleaner body and to be sealed therein by a resilient bushing 98. The electrical leads on the interior of the cleaner body are disposed generally in the recess 80 and extend to and are connected to the motor and fan unit 42. and to the electrical switch 64, which is mounted inthe aligned openings 92 and 96 and has its actuating portion extending to the exterior of the cleaner body. It will be understood that the switch 64 is mounted in its supporting openings in such a manner that it is sealed so as to prevent air from leaking through the openings.

By virtue of mounting both the electrical power cord and the electrical switch in the manner set forth above, important economies are effected. It will be noted that the electrical switch 64 is mounted on the vacuum side of the motor and fan unit, and therefore, the leads from the switch to the motor portion of the motor and fan unit 42 need not be sealed, because both the electrical switch and said motor portion are on the same (vacuum) side of the motor and fan unit. Also, it should be noted that the electrical power cord extends through both the wall 82 of the base casing section and the wall portion 88 of the air baffle and motor mounting wall, and is sealed by a single seal. The overall effect of the foregoing arrangement is to minmize the number of seals necessary to eflect the proper mounting of the electrical components and the electrical Wiring therefor.

In view of the foregoing, it is believed to be apparent that applicant has satisfied the objects of his invention in that he has provided: an eifective vacuum cleaner casing construction which lends itself to simple fabrication and assembly, and therefore, which may be manufactured at a minimum cost.

As will be evident from the foregoing description, certain aspects in my invention are not limited to the construction of the example illustrated, and I contemplate that various and other modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. It is, therefore, my intention that the appended claim will cover such modifications and applications as do not depart from the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A vacuum cleaner comprising:

(a) a body having an air inlet and an air outlet and comprising: I (aa) a generally cylindrical member having a flat annular peripheral mounting flange,

(bb) a cup-shaped member having a flat annular peripheral mounting flange, and

(cc) a wall member disposed between said cylindrical member and said cup-shaped member and having a fiat annular peripheral mounting flange,

(dd) said mounting flanges being of substantially the same dimensions and in juxtaposed relation with each other,

(ee) one of said flanges having a deformed portion rolled over said other flanges to fasten said members together,

(11) air filtering means mounted within said body,

(0) air flow producing means mounted within said body,

(d) means secured to said well member for supporting said air flow producing means,

(e) a socket-like recess in said wall member being formed in part by a wall portion of said wall member in closely spaced generally parallel relation to a portion of said cup-shaped member,

(1'') first and second openings in said wall portion,

(g) first and second openings in said cup-shaped member respectively aligned with said first and second openings in said Wall portion,

(11) a power cord extending through said first opening in said Wall portion and said first opening in said cupshaped member,

(1) a resilient bushing surrounding said cord to seal said cord to said wall portion and said cup-shaped member, and

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,415,773 Bimm May 9, 1922 2,236,265 Hansson et al. Mar 25, 1941 2,307,538 Paulus Ian. 5, 1943 2,771,151 Osborn Nov. 20, 1956 

